Spinoabdominal supporter



JOHN W. PHELPS,OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

SPINOABDOMINAL SUPPORTER.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 5,783, dated-September 19, 1848.

To all 'u1/1,0m, t may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN W. PHELPs,.of Boston, in the county of Suolkand State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvementin Dorsal Abdominal Supporters; and I do hereby declare that the same isfully described and represented in the following specification andaccompanying drawings, letters, figures, and references thereof. v

Of the drawings Figure l, denotes a front elevation, and Fig. 2 a rearelevation of myy improved dorsal abdominal supporter. j

In the same, A exhibits the anterior or front pad; B, B, two lateral ormain springs curved so as to adjust themselves lto the body, and passingdiectly over the crest of the ilium or hip bone; and united. at the rearends to the inferior rest frame- C, of the back piece. The said backpiece is oo mposed of two frames or parts C, D, which are jointedtogether in such a manner as to admit of the lateral movements of 'thatpart of the body above the hips, without disturbing the position of thefront pad or inferior back rest C. The two frames C and D, should bemade o-f thin strips of tempered steel, and separated at the top orsuperior ends, so as to rest on the shoulder blades, and admit of aforward or backward 1nove ment of the body when in the act of stoopingor bending forward or backward as occasion may require.

The shoulder straps E, E, are fastened to the superior frame D, andrespectively have hooks and eyelets or otherl suitable contrivances toconfine them and the back piece to the shoulders and back of the wearer.

The ends ofeach of the two lateral or hip springs are perforated withholes, and may be connected to the front pad and back rest C, by meansof such contrivances as will admit of their being lengthened orshortened as the case may require.

The whole, viz, thepads, springs, and superior and inferior parts of theback piece, should be suitably covered with silk, cloth, 0r other propermaterials, and padded and stuffed as occasion may require. It is wellknown to the medical profession that in almost all cases of abdominalweakness there is a corresponding debility in the dorsal vertebra orsmall of the back; my instrument has been constructed so that its partsma act in unison, and alleviate-.both disabilities.

j I am aware that an abdominal supporter has been constructed with aspinal back piece, made to extend entirely up and down the Vback andclose along both sides of the spine.

I am also aware that corselets for the extension of the spine orcorrection of deformities thereof, have been made with a back pieceformed oftwo parts having a oint between them,v or where they cometogether. I am not awa-re of a dorsal abdominal supporter having beenmadek withits back piece con-V structed in two parts, and so as to reston the shoulder blades, and jointed together as above specified; and forthe purpose of preventing the troublesome disarrangementv of the frontpad when the person or wearer is 1n the vact of stooping laterally.Consequently I lay no claim to a co-rselet having a back piececonstructed in two parts; said corselet being in no respect intended forab-V dominal support; but only as a spinal support and extender. Neitherdo I claim as any part of my invention an abdominal suppo-rterconstructed with a single spinal or back piece, made to extend entirelyup and down the back; as my invention or improveso` l ment is intendedto possess all the advanl tages of `such an apparatus, andto correct oneof its most important defects, to wit, the irregular and improper Strainproduced on the abdominal pad, when the person while sitting or standingmoves the upper part of the body, or that part lof it which is situatedabove the hips, in a lateral direction. Nor do I claim as part of thisimprovement the manner in which the front pad is attached to thetransverse spring, by means of` a spiral spring, though I am able tosho-w that I was the original inventor of this mode of attachment, morethan six yearssince.

What I claim as my invention is The combination of a back piece made inI two'parts and jointed together as described, with the abdominal padand the lateral springs; the whole being constructed and operatingtogether, substantially, in the manner and for the purpose as specified.

In testimony whereof I have hereto set my signature this eleventh day ofNovember, A. D. 1847.

JOHN w. PHELPs.

Witnesses:

R. H. EDDY, FRANCIS GoULD.

